Like Brother and Sister: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}

Sometimes, two characters of the opposite sex are very close - so close that you might expect them to be dating. Except they're not. They admit that they matter a great deal to each other, that they would die for each other, that they can't imagine life without each other. They aren't just any pair of friends. They're as close as family. They're like'''Like brotherBrother and sisterSister'''!

Often, other people don't believe them. They assume that the couple must be dating--ordating—or at least that they [[Just Friends|secretly wish they were]]. The couple is at pains to explain that this isn't the case. They love each other, like a brother and sister love each other, but they're not ''in'' love. They really are "just" friends. Other characters will waste no time in pointing out the one tiny but debilitating flaw with this theory: They are ''not'' brother and sister.

The Greek word for this love is ''storge'', as explained in detail in [[CSC. LewisS. (Creator)Lewis|CS Lewis]]' book specifically on the subject, ''[[The Four Loves]]''. The fact that this [[Brother -Sister Incest|doesn't stop everybody]] is a whole other can of worms all together. [[Relative Error]] would be somewhat the inverse of, but definitely comparable to, this trope.

{{examples|Examples}}

* Although it initially appears that there's romantic tension between {{spoiler|Erin and Melan}} in ''[[Brigadoon Marin and Melan]]'', she later reveals that he is like a brother to her.

* At first it looked like Bulma and Yamcha from ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]'' fame would become an [[Official Couple]], but theretheir relationship amounted to this in the end. With surprisingly no bad feelings. Yamcha tried to fight for her affections for a while, and he was a bit bummed out that he lost for a time. But in the end it looks as if everybody's happy with how things turned out.

* Shizuo and Celty of ''[[Durarara!!]]''.

* Ban and Himiko from ''[[Get BackersGetBackers]]''. {{spoiler|After spending almost 95% of the series like this, the 37th volume reveals that they might not be completely unrelated after all -- but the exact nature of their blood relationship is not specified.}}

* Dick Grayson and Donna Troy from the New Teen Titans. They really act like brother and sister and shared leadership of the team. Which is surprising given that he is the [[Chick Magnet]] and she looks like a younger version of Wonder Woman.

* Dwight and Miho from ''[[Sin City]]'' have this relationship.

* In ''Titans and the Lost Boy'', Starfire apparently decides that Ryouga is similar to a Tamaranian. This leads to her growing closer to him, which eventually leads to this kind of relationship. Said relationship persists throughout the sequel, ''[[Dark Titans (Fanfic)|Dark Titans]]'', and the sequel/crossover with ''[[The Road to Cydonia (Fanfic)|The Road to Cydonia]]'', [[Mega Crossover|''Reflections Lost on a Dark Road''.]]

* In the [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6915218/1/Subroutine ''Subroutine''] [[Fan Verse]] ([[Tron Legacy (Film)|Tron: Legacy]] / [[Tron Two Point Oh (Video Game)|Tron 2.0]] [[Patchwork Fic]]), Jet and Quorra fall into this pattern.

* In ''[[A Study in Regret (Fanfic)|A Study in Regret]]'', [[The Hero|Inspector Lestrade]] and [[Action Girl|Mary Watson]] develop this relationship in the story's [[Rescue Arc]].

* It's amazing -- youamazing—you can actually ''hear'' Mr. Knightley's heart break when Emma uses these words when they're about to dance in ''[[Emma]]''.<ref> [[Double in In-Law Marriage|His brother is married to her sister]].</ref>

* There's a bizarre, amusing variant mentioned in the ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''EarthWorld'': Anji considers the Doctor to be like a sister to her. No, he hasn't regenerated into a woman, but he's the Eighth, who's just shy of [[Camp Gay|Camp]] [[Bi the Way|Bisexual]], at least in the novels. She considers him to be [[Bishonen|quite nice to look at]] but not her type, and he very rarely seems to fancy anyone. He does kiss her on the lips later in the book, but that's because he acts as if he had [[No Social Skills]] and has [[No Sense of Personal Space]]. And he opens up to her emotionally perhaps a bit more than he does to his [[Heterosexual Life Partners|Also-Not-Exactly-Heterosexual Life Partner]], Fitz.

* Horance and Alyss and Will and Evanlyn from [[RangersRanger's Apprentice]].

* In [[PGP. G. Wodehouse (Creator)|PG Wodehouse]]'s ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (Literaturenovel)|Thank You, Jeeves]]'', Bertie has to spend a good deal of time insisting that he and Pauline Stoker are this trope. No one buys it because they used to be engaged, even though Pauline is now in love with Bertie's friend Chuffy and Bertie is actively trying to set them up.

* Matteo and Eliza in ''[[Someone ElsesElse's War (Literature)|Someone Elses War]]''.

* In [[Chronicles of Chaos (Literature)|Chronicles of Chaos]], Amelia, who has been in love with Victor since day one, has her hopes crushed when he curtly tells [[Handsome Lech|Colin]] to "stop molesting his [[Secret Project Refugee Family|sister.]]" Victor is ''actually'' tacitly warning Colin to back off.

** [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy and Xander]], at least after Season Two. For the first two seasons it's a bit one-sided (Xander's in love with Buffy during this time).

* On ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', Cordelia and Wesley bicker and taunt each other mercilessly, but they are good friends, and are always there to defend each other in times of danger. If it wasn't for the accent difference, they could almost ''be'' brother and sister.

{{quote| '''Roz:''' You've always been just like a brother to me. Which is weird, I know, because [[Better Asas Friends|we slept together...]]}}

* ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]''

** Mal and Zoe. They appear to have been [[Platonic Life Partners]] until Zoe married Wash, but since {{spoiler|Zoe unflinchingly chooses Wash over Mal in ''War Stories''}}, it's safe to assume that, much like Xander and Willow above, Mal and Zoe's relationship has been demoted. After {{spoiler|Wash dies in ''[[Serenity (Film)|Serenity]]''}}, it's quite possible that Zoe and Mal's relationship will return to [[Platonic Life Partners]] status.

{{quote| '''Kaylee:''' Goin' on a year now, I ain't had nothin' twixt my nethers [[A Date Withwith Rosie Palms|weren't run on batteries]]!<br />

'''Mal:''' [[Too Much Information|OH GOD! I CAN'T KNOW THAT!]]<br />

* Donna and the Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'', although they were often mistaken as a couple. One of the first companions in the revival not to view the Doctor as a romantic interest, these two characters had a very close platonic friendship.

* Guinevere and Merlin became this on ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. They probably have the healthiest relationship on the show, and both were prepared to die for the other within the first four episodes of the show.

* Luke and Rani on ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' are, [[True Companions|of course]], very close friends, but there's not a hint of attraction from either side between them. Also, Luke is still pining after [[Put Onon a Bus|Maria]] and Rani has rather intense [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]] with Clyde.

** Also, Marshall and Robin, in contrast to her [[Better Asas Friends]] with Ted and [[Will They or Won't They?]] with Barney.

{{quote| '''Parker:''' What's sexting?<br />

* [[Babylon Five5|John Sheridan]] and Susan Ivanova have walked through fire together and told each other things they haven't told anyone else. There's also not a hint of romantic interest in each other on either side.

* After a brief [[Ship Tease]], [[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys|Hercules]] and [[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]] decide they're [[Better Asas Friends]] and become this.

== SongMusic ==

{{quote| Franziska: "He's like my little brother."}}

* Falco Lombardi and Katt Monroe from ''[[Star Fox (Video Gameseries)|Star Fox]]''. They're not related, but they've known each other for most of their lives. Their once-ambiguously-portrayed relationship turned out to be this once it became clear in ''Farewell, Beloved Falco'' that Falco [[Incompatible Orientation|isn't into girls]], but they have a sibling-like loyalty to each other.

* At the beginning of ''[[Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin]]'', Jonathan Morris states that his childhood friend Charlotte Aulin is like his dear sister, much to her displeasure since she doesn't like to be treated like a child.

** In ''[[Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia]]'', Albus views himself as Shanoa's big brother, complete with [[Knight Templar Big Brother]] tendencies. Whether or not Shanoa feels the same is uncertain since we don't see much of her prior to her memory loss.

* Though it's never outright stated, the male and female leads in [[Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)|Tales of Vesperia]] fall into this. Despite numerous [[Shipper Onon Deck]] moments from other companions in various skits, they never stray from being like brother and sister.

** The same case can also apply with the main hero and heroine of [[Tales of Graces (Video Game)|Tales of Graces]]. Despite the traditional romantic feelings harboring between the [[Tales Of]] heroes, this time, the main character's love interest isn't the main heroine (who unfortunately is [[Die for Our Ship|hit hard by some fans]]), so despite the numerous [[Ship Tease]] moments, nothing romantic ever occurs between the two of them. {{spoiler|It doesn't help that the main heroine isn't even human.}} In the Lineage to the Future arc, [[The Hero|Asbel]] explicitly calls [[Mysterious Waif|Sophie]] like a sister (although in a skit, she refers to him like a father-figure as well - [[It Makes Sense in Context]]).

* ''[[Corpse Party]]'' has Mayu Suzumoto and Sakutarou Morishige. {{spoiler|Sakutarou does ''[[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|not]]'' take it well when he finds out that the mutilated corpse he's been [[Nightmare Fetishist|obsessing over]] is Mayu's.}}

* In the [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] series, Tails and Amy act like this. Amy's [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]] status can make things a bit tense, however.

* Creepknight and Bowler certainly seem to reflect this in ''[[Voodoo Walrus]]''. At very least, they [https://web.archive.org/web/20190928172221/http://www6.voodoowalrus.com/?ps_token=1569691339.0015677289&kw=Comics&term=1844Read argue like brother and sister].

* ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'': Roy and Haley. Also, assuming [[Ambiguous Gender|Vaarsuvius]] is a guy, him and Haley as well.

* Apollo and Calliope in ''[[ThaliasThalia's Musings]]'', except on rare occasions when Calliope is drunk.

* Lance and Illana from ''[[Sym -Bionic Titan]]'' poses as siblings in their high school. Gennedy Tartakovsky said before there was to be no romance between those two.

* Played with in ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney Atat Law]]'':

{{quote| '''Birdgirl:''' You realize there's absolutely no chance we'll be kissing, right?<br />

'''Peanut:''' Yeah, d'uh, of course; you're like my sister. (pause) Which given a little thought could be a very hot concept. }}

* Henry and June from ''[[Ka BlamKaBlam!]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20110918235116/http://s1.zetaboards.com/The_KaBlam_Forum/topic/4265635/1 according to] [[Word of God]].

* This is quite common in real life amongst childhood friends. Studies show that children who know each other during their early childhood will rarely develop any romantic interest later in life. It's hypothesized that this is part of an instinctual mechanism designed to minimize the possibility of [[Incest Is Relative|inbreeding]]. It's called [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Westermarck_effect:Westermarck effect|Westermarck effect]]. But do Middle/High schoolers with those two friends who have known each other since preschool care? Nooooooo....

* [[Leonardo Di CaprioDiCaprio]] and [[Kate Winslet]], having been very close friends after [[Titanic]] and collaborated again in [[Revolutionary Road]] and nothing more. [[Actor Shipping|Shippers]] disagree. Kate's kids call him "Uncle Leo", and for a kissing scene in [[Revolutionary Road]], Leonardo stated that it felt slightly weird because kissing Kate was like kissing a family member.

* Arguably the luckiest of King Henry VIII's wives was [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Cleves:Anne of Cleves|Anne of Cleves]]. Misled by flattering portraits on both ends and a need for a political alliance, they married. As soon as it was time to consumate things, the pair found out that there was absolutely ''zero'' attraction and Henry opted for an annullment. Lucky Anne, though, kept in good standing with Henry, and became known as the "King's beloved sister."

* David Faustino denied that there was ever any romance between him and Christina Applegate on ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'', instead defining their relationship as this trope.

* [[Jennette McCurdy]] has specifically said that kissing [[Nathan Kress]] feels like kissing a brother, and it's part of the reason some fans see the relationship of Sam and Freddie in the 5th season of ''[[I CarlyiCarly]]'' as being subject to [[Shipping Bed Death]] due to the lack romantic chemistry.